Accepting the Palmer Gillis Entrepreneur of the Year Award at last weekend’s MCE Gala was Ryan Miller, who is pictured with Gillis. Submitted Photos
Businessman Honored
SALISBURY — At Maryland Capital Enterprises’s (MCE) annual gala last Saturday night, local businessman Ryan Miller was named the 2013 Palmer Gillis Entrepreneur of the Year, earning him a $1,500 cash prize.
Two honorable mentions were also honored Saturday night, including Dawn Tilghman, who owns Burnett White Tire and Automotive, and Bryan Brushmiller, who owns Burley Oak Brewery in Berlin.
Miller owns The Deli, Last Call Liquors, R. Miller Properties, Cafe Perdue, Perdue Pantry and Monkey Barrel. He earned his undergraduate degree from Penn State University. Originally from Annapolis, he moved to Salisbury after college on the advice of his best friend and bought his first business, The Monkey Barrel, a tavern located on Route 13 across from Salisbury University. A few years later, he bought a multi-family housing complex in Princess Anne and R. Miller Properties, LLC, was born.
While pursuing a Masters Degree at Salisbury University, Miller opened a delicatessen, aptly named The Deli, right next to the Monkey Barrel, and then he applied for and received the last available license in Wicomico County for private businesses to operate a package goods store and Last Call Liquors was born, right next to the Deli.
Due to the success of these businesses, and the quality of food served at The Deli, Miller was invited to bid on a new restaurant to serve breakfast and lunch to hundreds of associates at Perdue’s corporate headquarters. He so impressed the executives at Perdue, he was asked to create the Perdue Pantry, a small wholesale market for the associates of Corporate Perdue which sells Perdue, Harvestland, and Coleman Natural products.
“Congratulations to Ryan Miller for earning this prestigious award,” said MCE CEO Joe Morse. “He exemplifies everything that being in an entrepreneur is all about. He’s taken risks, he’s worked hard, he’s always thinking and acting on his ideas. We are proud to present him this award.”
The Entrepreneur of the Year Award is named after local businessman Palmer Gillis, founder of Gillis Gilkerson, a local commercial construction company. Nominations were accepted from the three Lower Shore counties, and a panel of business leaders selected the winning nominees.
Trio Completes Program
SELBYVILLE, Del. — Amber Brasure, Justin Brasure and Ashlee Brasure of Brasure’s Carpet Care in Selbyville, Del. recently attended and completed the Master Rug Cleaner program held at Oriental Rug Cleanings, a 100-year-old, Dallas-based company owned by the third generation of Armenian rug cleaners.
Master Rug Cleaner program graduates are members of the international network of oriental and specialty rug cleaning professionals who have achieved the highest designation in the industry and have made the financial, intellectual and time commitment to achieve advanced oriental and specialty rug cleaning knowledge; trained their employees in the use of safe cleaning procedures with regard for the environment; joined an international network of like-minded professionals with the highest ethical business practices; and learned advanced oriental and specialty rug cleaning skills to provide their customers with the highest quality service.
Brasure’s Carpet Care has been in business since April 1983 and is currently celebrating 30 years of service to the area. Brasure’s is the area’s only true, oriental rug cleaning plant. Every rug is addressed during inspection and has its own proper way to be cleaned.
Kiesha Lankford
Insurance Company News
WILLARDS — Atlantic/Smith, Cropper & Deeley Insurance Brokers recently released some personnel announcements.
President Laura Deeley Bren announced Kiesha Lankford will assume the role of Commercial Lines Manager. She joined the agency as the Claims Manager in 2009 and will continue to oversee those operations as well. She has 14 years of experience in claims administration, commercial lines marketing, service and risk management.
Additionally, Bren announced Donna J. Harrison as top producer for the month of October. Harrison is an account executive licensed in property, casualty, life and health insurance. She has been with A/SCD for 20 years.
Donna J. Harrison
Tourism Awards Presented
HANOVER – Last week, more than 200 tourism industry professionals convened for the 33rd Annual Tourism and Travel Summit sponsored by the Maryland Tourism Council (MTC) and the Maryland Office of Tourism Development (OTD).
The three-day conference, held at The Hotel at Arundel Preserve, included award ceremonies presented by the Maryland Office of Tourism, the Maryland Association of Destination Marketing Organizations, the Maryland Tourism Council and AAA Mid-Atlantic.
Among the top local winners include Tourism Advocate, Greg Shockley, chairman of the Maryland Tourism Development Board; New Professional of the Year, Sara Sabia, Harrison Group Hotels and Restaurants; Economic Engine, Ocean City Dew Tour; and 2014 AAA Four Diamond® Lodging Award recipient, Hilton Suites Ocean City Oceanfront (seventh consecutive year).
Bob Hulburd
Hulburd Earns Award
WESTMINSTER — Robert Hulburd of Berlin has received the alumni community service award from McDaniel College. He is a 1977 alumnus of the college.
Presented annually during McDaniel’s Homecoming, the alumni community service award is given to a graduate who has performed outstanding voluntary service to their community beyond normal business or professional obligations.
Hulburd was a high school art teacher in Worcester County and coached football and wrestling at Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin before becoming an insurance agent for Nationwide. He successfully ran for the Worcester County Board of Education in 2002.
He is a founding member and chairman of C.R.A.S.H. (County Residents Action for Safer Highways), a grassroots lobbying organization that works for the implementation of safety improvements, such as the dualization of Route 113 that successfully reduced driving fatalities. He received the Nationwide Insurance National Service Award in 1997 and the Ocean Pines Citizen of the Year Award in 2000.
Hulburd’s community involvement includes serving as chairman of the Worcester County Tourism Board from 1999–2005 and past chairman and member of several Ocean Pines committees, including the Risk Management Committee. He has previously been an active member and treasurer of the Berlin Lions Club.
Currently, Hulburd is a corporate board member of the Atlantic General Hospital and a member of the board of directors of the Assateague Island Alliance. He is also a member of the Citizens Advisory Council for Maryland Coastal Bays Association.